Sunglasses
by secooper87
Summary: Someone's been showing up in Buffy's past. Someone who wants the Doctor.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: It's really interesting, going from writing for Buffy when she's older to writing for her when she's still a kid. In this story, I get to go through Buffy when she's young, through Buffy when she's old. She really has grown and changed as a character, huh?

I think I'm going to post up this whole story at once. I think the story flows better if you read it as a unit.

Next up! We get to see Seo, Dawn, the Silence, and Sunglasses in "All Must Fall."

Enjoy!

* * *

_Sunnydale,__ 1997_.

Buffy stepped into the mausoleum, tentatively, her stake raised. Looking around herself, ready to run away or leap into action at a moment's notice. Depending on what she found.

It was empty.

Buffy's nerves fell away into a grin, as she noticed the symbol Giles had shown her, representing the Charm of Horlop, carved into the stone top to the bier in the center.

"Ka-ching," Buffy said, as she raced inside and grabbed up the bier's lid, to move it aside and get the artifact. "Dangerous demon charm, come to Buff—"

The lid had only just begun to move, when Buffy was grabbed by the shoulders and shoved away.

Buffy, on instinct, regained her balance and flipped back, grabbing up her assailant into a choke-hold.

Then released, as she realized… it was Angel.

"Don't sneak up like that!" Buffy said, shoving him away from her. "If you're going to be all creepy-stalker and stuff."

Angel looked flustered, tonight.

If vampires had breath, Buffy figured he'd be breathing heavily enough to approach a serious nervous breakdown.

"It's a trap," Angel warned. "The charm isn't a charm. I came the moment I found out."

Buffy crossed her arms. "Wow. You ran all the way here from your creepy demon contacts that you won't disclose — just so you could give me another dose of the cryptic. Thanks, Angel."

Angel's nerves didn't die down.

In fact, he now seemed more jumpy than ever. Looking around himself, constantly, as if trying to catch sight of someone who was about to swoop out at him from the shadows.

"You going to be all with the explanation?" Buffy demanded. "Or just stick with 'it's a trap'?"

"I… don't know," Angel admitted. Dropped his head. "I had this meeting, tonight — she said you were in danger. I don't know if she was threatening you, or warning you, or what, but… somehow… she knew everything. Can manipulate everything."

Buffy felt a jolt of worry run through her. "_She_?"

"She knew what Giles wanted you to do," Angel continued. "Where you'd go, tonight. Which graveyard and which mausoleum you'd be at — on a minute-by-minute basis. And she knew what the Charm of Horlop really is, and who made sure Giles would have the wrong information, to lure you—"

"You went on a dinner date with someone else?!" Buffy cried.

Angel faltered. "What?"

"You did!" Buffy said, pointing her finger in his face. "You went on a date with someone else! Some… I don't know. Demon, or vampire, or…!"

"Buffy, it wasn't like that!" Angel insisted. "She said you were in danger. I thought…"

"Was… was she prettier than me?" Buffy asked. Feeling her heart booming way too loud in her chest. Then, with a wave of her hand, "No, don't answer that. She was, wasn't she?"

"I was trying to protect you!" Angel interjected.

Buffy turned back to the bier in the center of the mausoleum. Trying to force back tears.

"Go back to your demon-super-star," Buffy said, grabbing up the bier's lid, again. "I'll just stay here being miserable while I Slayer-it-up with the Charm of—"

"The Charm of Horlop isn't an object, Buffy!" Angel insisted, snatching her up by the wrists. He pointed at the lid of the bier. "It's not something you can take out of that grave, hold in your hand, and then smash!"

"So what did your we're-just-friends-and-it's-not-a-date lady say it _was_?!" Buffy shouted.

That was when the stone lid on the bier shattered, like glass.

Revealing a swirling pit of blackness underneath, which roared and ejected a sudden mob of five-legged demons with razor-sharp teeth and sleek black furry bodies.

"A doorway to a demon realm," Angel said.

They turned to Buffy, hunger glowing in their eyes.

And with a howl, they pounced.

Buffy only just managed to flip herself away from the first monster, kicking a second monster back, while Angel morphed and tore into another two. But there were more emerging from the doorway all the time, and Buffy had to find some way to seal the gateway.

Seal the mausoleum.

She looked up. If she could just jump up — hit one of the main support struts by that small window, up there, then climb through before—

All thoughts of escape ceased, as one of the creatures grabbed her.

She tried to fight back, but the whole group was on top of her. Every one of them tearing and clawing to hold her down and restrain her, each one spinning a spider-like web around her body before they began dragging her back, ant-like, towards the doorway to their demon realm.

Angel fought to get to her.

But he wasn't far from being monster-food himself.

"You win!" Angel shouted into the air, loud as he could, trying to free himself as the creatures wove a web around his limbs. "I agree! I agree to it all!"

Then there was a flash.

And next thing Buffy knew… the five-legged black monsters were gone. Vanished, as if they'd never been there at all. The entryway into the other dimension turned opaque, then faded back into the stone surface of the tomb.

Leaving Buffy on the ground, a little stunned and still covered in web, trying to work out what had just happened.

With a lot of wriggling, she managed to catch hold of a sharp rock nearby, and tear the bonds that restrained her. Then leapt to her feet, and raced over to free Angel, too.

"What did you do, Angel?" Buffy said. A little warily. "First you said this was a trap. And when you agreed to something, all the baddies disappeared." She crossed her arms. "Are you being coerced?"

Angel wouldn't answer.

"What did you agree to?" Buffy demanded. Leveling a stern stare at him. "Angel. _What did you do_?"

Angel looked away.

And never said.

* * *

When Angel was sure he'd shaken Buffy off, he went back to the bar. Sat down at the booth, opposite the woman in the sunglasses, her mahogany hair shining in the candlelight, her lips turned in a perfect smile.

"So?" she asked him.

Angel opened his mouth to answer, then… hesitated. Closed it. Looked away.

"You said you agreed to my terms," said the woman. "That includes telling me what you know as of now."

Angel was quiet for a long moment.

Then, in a half-whisper, "The Doctor isn't here. He hasn't shown up in Buffy's life at all. Not that I can see."

The sunglasses woman gave a small laugh. "There! That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Angel didn't answer.

The woman leaned over the table. Her hair falling over her shoulders, as she handed him a small trinket. "You remember the second part of our terms, of course?"

"That if he ever shows up, I summon you immediately?" Angel took the trinket. His face looking glum and somewhat disgusted with himself. "This is some kind of… summoning charm?"

"Some kind, yes." The woman's voice lowered. "When he shows up, just think of me while holding that."

Angel put the trinket down on the table.

Didn't even want to touch it.

What had he done?

What had he agreed to?!

"What?" said the woman, leaning back. "It's not that big a sacrifice, is it? You don't care about him."

"I can't let you kill him," Angel warned her. "I won't."

"Not a problem," Sunglasses replied. She winked. "I said I wanted him alive. Otherwise… there isn't really much point. Is there?"

Angel didn't answer.

Sunglasses grinned. "You've seen what I can do, now," she reminded him. "The power that I have. Prophecies, curses, time and hell demons and vampires — I can get around them all." She snapped her fingers. "Like that."

"You said you could prevent the prophecy that was written in the Peragmum Codex," Angel said. "You said you could make sure the Master didn't kill Buffy."

"At the end of Buffy's final face-off with the vampire known as 'the Master'," the woman replied, "she'll be alive and well. You have my word on that."

Angel still felt uneasy.

That didn't sound exactly like what he'd asked.

"She'll be under my protection," the woman replied. "Now and forever." Pushing the trinket closer to him. "Just one simple thing you have to do, first."

Angel didn't answer for a long time.

Then, with an irritated sigh, grabbed the trinket back up off the table.

"I'll agree to your little game," Angel said. "But just remember. If you destroy the Doctor, you make an enemy of me. But if you hurt Buffy… I'll tear you apart with my bare hands. Got that?"

The woman got up from the table. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news," she said. Then leaned down. And whispered, "But you couldn't stop me if you tried."

She stood upright. Adjusted her sunglasses.

"Your Slayer will be fine," the woman assured him. "Just so long as you summon me the moment she meets the Doctor." She turned to head out of the bar. "I have an interest in those two."

Angel stared down at the trinket in his hands.

"Forgive me, Buffy," he whispered. "Please."


	2. Chapter 2

_Sunnydale, 1998_.

Angel had been weird — even by his standards — ever since Buffy had first met the Doctor.

Yep.

Ever since Buffy had gotten back from that thing with the evil Time Lord Omega — who was trying to force his way into this reality to take some terrible revenge — and prevented the Doctor from getting vampirized and possessed by that 'Toby' guy.

Something was up with Angel.

He wasn't just looking uncomfortable. He was twitchy. A nervous wreck.

"The Doctor isn't going to come back here and stake you or anything," Buffy told Angel. "I mean, I'm not some alien expert, but… I just didn't get the whole staking-good-guys vibe from him."

Angel hesitated.

"Despite everything you and Giles said… he seems nice," Buffy offered. "I mean, I haven't known him very long, but… I kind of already think of him as my friend."

This seemed to make Angel even more nervous.

"Buffy," he said, in a small voice, "I… think I might have made a very big mistake."

Buffy twirled her stake in her hands, strolling through the graveyard. "You mean by misleading me into thinking the Doctor was evil and making me hand him over to a bunch of lunatics?" She flashed Angel a smile. "Yeah, you did. But I forgive you."

"Not that," said Angel. "There was… an… agreement. I don't—"

But that was right around the time that the vampires attacked. And whatever Buffy and Angel had been saying to one another was lost forever.

* * *

It was a week later.

Angel was alone, in his mansion. Meditating. Trying to suppress the animal that had been brought out inside of him, during his torture in Acathla's dimension. And focus himself on the here and now.

"I thought we had a deal," came a voice.

Angel started, violently. Jumped to his feet and spun around. To find himself face-to-face with the woman wearing sunglasses on her head.

The woman's heels clicked against the ground, as her hair blew back around her with every step.

"He's already come and gone, hasn't he?" the woman asked. Paused, not far away from Angel. Crossing her arms. "Bad Angel. You didn't summon me."

Angel dropped into a fighting stance. Growled.

The woman didn't seem to care.

"That was a crucial moment, you know," the woman informed Angel. "That first meeting between Buffy and the Doctor. The first time she learns to trust him." Her eyes flashed. "It's what starts everything."

Angel's eyes narrowed. His face morphing into his vampiric visage.

"But you didn't summon me!" the woman said, turning on Angel. Her voice lowering, suddenly ice-cold and dangerous. "You've threatened all my plans, Angel. And I don't like people who threaten my plans."

"I couldn't let you hurt Buffy," Angel snapped.

The woman with the sunglasses sighed. Threw up her arms. "I _want_ the Doctor," she said. "Not Buffy. The Doctor." Paused. Then, in a slightly amused voice, added beneath her breath, "I'll deal with _her_ later."

Angel snarled, then sprung at the woman, reaching out to tear her apart.

He wasn't sure what happened next.

Everything went too quickly for him to process or understand. But next thing Angel knew, the woman had him completely restrained and helpless, lying stomach-down on the floor, one hand on his back as she leaned over to look directly into his eyes.

"Angel, Angel, Angel," the woman tutted. "When will you ever learn? You can't fight me. I always win."

"What do you want with Buffy?" Angel demanded. "You said she'd be safe!"

"I said she'd be safe _if_ you summoned me at the correct moment," the woman said, through her teeth. "You didn't."

Angel managed to summon enough strength to roll out of her grasp and then pounce on her, again, hoping to get in a really strong attack, but she expertly blocked two punches, grabbed him by his arm and shoved him against the wall.

Looking deep into his eyes.

"Tell me what happened," the woman demanded, "when the Doctor arrived."

Angel wanted to resist.

But found himself telling her everything. He didn't even understand why he was doing it.

And after he was done, she released him. Stepped back, her eyes drifting off into the distance. A pensive look settling across her face, as she took it all in.

"That's all I know, promise," Angel said. "If I knew more, I'd tell you."

The woman began to pace the room, irritated. "All you know, and it's nothing! Not even half the story! Not even a glancing reference to Jack or Omega." She stopped.

Then turned on Angel.

"You should have gotten me the moment he showed up," the woman growled, pointing at him. "I should have been there!"

Angel didn't know what to say.

"This could ruin everything," the woman muttered. "A crucial moment!"

Angel tried to step forwards, but found himself unable, under her gaze, to approach her. Or even morph into his vampiric visage.

He backed away, instead.

"Are you going to hurt Buffy," he asked, "because of what I did?"

The woman with the sunglasses shot him an indescribable look. One that raged with the power of lightning and thunder, running through her.

"No," the woman said. "I'm going to hurt _you_."

Angel braced himself for the worst.

But the blow never came.

"You love Buffy, don't you?" said the woman, crossing her arms. "You want her to be yours forever." She stepped forwards. Voice lowering to a whisper. "But I'm from the future. I've seen forever."

Angel felt a chill run through him.

The woman met Angel's eyes with her own. "And... you know what? In the future, Buffy has a child." Her lips turned upwards, ever so slightly. "She has _his_ child."

Angel froze.

Unable to move.

"And all because of that crucial moment that you didn't summon me for," said the woman. "The one moment that could change everything."

"I... I thought..." Angel stammered.

"That it wouldn't be in your best interest to summon me at that precise moment in history?" the woman waved her hand, dismissively. "Oh, it's not. I'm not working to your best interests at all. But that's hardly the point, now, is it?"

Angel didn't understand.

Didn't get it.

"What are you planning?" Angel asked. "Why is this meeting so important to you?"

"It's important to _me_ because of where it leads," said the woman with the sunglasses. "To that child."

Angel frowned.

"And it's important to _you_, because... it proves a point." The woman turned to leave, her heels clicking against the stone floor. "Buffy may be the love of _your_ life, Angel. But you're not the love of _hers_." She tugged open the door to the mansion. "That truth is your punishment. For betraying me."

Then she left.

As Angel's heart shattered into a million tiny shards.

It would be the last time Angel ever saw her in Sunnydale.


	3. Chapter 3

_The Bronze, Sunnydale, 1998_.

Buffy watched the Doctor's TARDIS fade out, with a small grin. She wondered if she'd ever be able to predict what his visits would bring, in the future. Or if their friendship would just continue like this — with him turning up out of nowhere, and dragging her into something totally random.

Buffy had never had a friend like this before.

But she kind of liked it.

Movement, out of the corner of Buffy's eye. She spun around, and caught brief sight of a woman with sunglasses perched on the top of her head.

Then the woman was gone.

And no amount of looking could reveal who she was or what she'd been doing.

Weird.


	4. Chapter 4

_The Mayor's Office, May, 1998_.

"…say he can stop the ascension," Faith summarized.

The Mayor mused this over. Shook his head, sadly. "Some people today!" he sighed. "It's tragic. You do everything for a town, and yet… some people are just never satisfied. No! They have to go and wreck your life goals, just because they're a little grumpy."

Faith gave an uncomfortable shrug. "He's with B," she offered. "In the library."

The Mayor's sadness morphed into a gleam of opportunity. "That's what I like about you, young lady," he said. "Your initiative."

Faith grinned.

Grabbed up her knife, and turned to race out of the Mayor's office.

"And take a sweater!" the Mayor called after Faith. "It's chilly out there, you know!"

The door shut behind her.

Revealing the figure in the shadows, who'd been concealed by the open door.

"I told you, Mayor Wilkins," said the woman with the dark mahogany hair and sunglasses perched on her head. "The Doctor is _mine_. That was the deal."

Wilkins paused.

Then gave her a charming smile. "So he is. I keep forgetting." He picked up a plate of cookies, and offered them to her. "How's your whole plan working out for you, then? As good as my plan's working out for me?"

The woman didn't take any cookies.

Her eyes were fixed on Wilkins, steadily.

"Your plan," the woman repeated.

"And I really do have to thank you for your help in making it work out," said the Mayor. He took one of the cookies for himself, chewed thoughtfully. "Oh, you should try these! They're really very good."

The woman leaned back against the wall. "You do remember, of course," she said, "that before I showed up, you were stuck sacrificing to a lowly wyterop demon in the hopes he'd grant you some cut-rate parody of immortality."

"Which is why I asked if you were doing well," Wilkins replied. "Because you helped me!" Gave her a charming smile. "I mean, that's what makes this country so great. We can all achieve our goals, if we work hard enough. I can achieve my dream of becoming a demon and you can get the…"

"I have no interest in your goals," the woman with the sunglasses replied. "You're just... a trial run. A means to an end." Her voice rang with an increasing edge. "But that end doesn't happen if you kill the Doctor."

The Mayor raised his hands in mock-innocence. "Woah! Calm down, there, little lady!" he said. "I'm only killing him because he's trying to stop my ascension. He's a Time Lord, right? I'll leave some lives for you to fiddle around with at the end of this."

The woman was very quiet for a long moment.

As shadows draped across the Mayor's office. The moon shining through a nearby window.

"The Doctor is mine," said the woman. "That was the deal." She leaned to the side, against the Mayor's desk. Idly reaching across it. "And I've noticed something about my temper, recently. Turns out, when people go back on deals... I get a little vindictive."

Faster than Wilkins could process, the woman had grabbed up a knife, and slammed it down through his shoulder.

He laughed.

Tugged it out, wincing only slightly at the pain he knew would pass.

"Completely invulnerable to all harm," Wilkins explained, "the hundred days before the Ascension. You of all people should know…"

Then he doubled over.

As the pain struck him full blast.

He turned his head. Stared, in horror, at the wound that didn't heal.

"Invulnerable to mortal blows," said the woman. Her voice lowered. "But I'm God, Mayor Wilkins. I don't give _mortal _blows."

He looked at her, for the first time realizing, fully, just whom he'd made a deal with.

Someone who'd be able to strike him down even when it was impossible. Who could snuff him out even after he ascended.

"I gave you the secret to your immortality and invulnerability," the woman with the sunglasses reminded him. "And I can take it away again. Remember that."

She snapped her fingers, and the wound vanished.

Healed as if it had never been there.

"Do I make my point," the woman asked, "Mayor Richard Wilkins?"

Wilkins straightened, adjusting his tie. "Quite... admirably."

The woman smiled. "Then we have nothing to worry about." Turned back to the door. "Do not touch the Doctor, Wilkins. No matter what he does to you, I want him alive. And I'm getting him. No one will stop me."

Wilkins didn't forget.

First chance he got, he changed the order.

And instead, tried to seal off the Doctor from their dimension completely.

"He's all yours," Wilkins said. "Take him!"

As he sealed the dimension away entirely.


	5. Chapter 5

_UC Sunnydale, 1999_.

Spike lit up a cigarette, beneath a tree. The moon coming out from behind a cloud, casting the landscape in long, dark shadows. Spike shook out the match, took a long drag on the cigarette.

A slight sound, behind him. And a voice… "You found him?"

Spike's eyes darted over to the striking woman with the mahogany hair, sunglasses perched up on the top of her head. Their lenses reflecting the silver orb of the moon.

"That depends," said Spike. "You got my money?"

The woman shot him a sideways smile. Then, seemingly from nowhere, handed him an envelope of cash.

Spike snatched it, counted up the bills. Nodded, tucking the money away in his coat. He gestured to a dorm window with his cigarette. "Up there. He's the one in the trainers who keeps licking things and doesn't seem to have a memory anymore. The bloody oaf."

"Much appreciated," said the woman, setting off in the direction Spike had indicated.

"You gonna get him, then?" Spike asked. "Take him off our hands when he's weak and vulnerable and doesn't remember who you are?"

The woman paused. Then looked back over her shoulder, eyes flashing.

"One thing you should know about the Doctor, Spike," she said, a small smile on her lips. "He is _never_ weak and vulnerable. No matter how many memories he's lost." She winked. "But this is another crucial moment. And this time... I'm around to see it."

Spike frowned. "You want the Doctor. I hand him to you. And you're not bloody taking him."

"Oh, I'll get him," the woman assured Spike. "When the time is right. But now isn't that time."

She turned back. Began to walk off.

"First step to being God," said Sunglasses. "Gather intelligence. So you can eliminate and foil your adversaries."

Spike shifted, uncomfortably. "Right. Well. Just… don't mention I sent you!" he shouted after her receding figure. "Memory-loss or no. That wanker has a thing against me."

But she was already gone.


	6. Chapter 6

_The Magic Box, 1999_.

"See?" Giles said, the zapper in his hand. He stood straight and tall, real pride in his voice, as he played through the footage in fast-forwards. "Using this surveillance system, I can monitor any activity in the shop at all hours. Even in the middle of the night, when no one's been around! I can see if there've been intruders."

Dawn snorted. "Yeah, because the burglar alarms wouldn't tell you that."

And that was when Buffy saw — out of the corner of her eye — something… or someone… through the window. Someone who disappeared the moment Buffy turned around.

But not fast enough.

"It's her!" Buffy shouted, spinning on her heels and racing off. "Again!"

But by the time Buffy caught up, cornered her in an ally that was a dead-end, with no chance of escape, the woman with the sunglasses was gone. Vanished, with no trace of her.

Buffy shouted in frustration, kicking a nearby trash can with a loud clang.

"Hey, what's with the spaz attack?" Dawn said, coming up behind her. Then, in a more excited voice: "Is it a demon? Can I help?"

"The sunglasses woman!" Buffy said, charging into the ally and shoving obstacles out of the way, hoping to uncover some secret hiding spot. "I don't know who she is or what she wants, but she only ever shows up when the Doctor's nearby!"

Dawn frowned. "Sunglasses woman?"

"Yeah, you remember…" Buffy paused. Then turned on her sister. "You _do_ remember her, right?"

Dawn shook her head.

"But you've seen her!" Buffy insisted. "You have to! That time when you the Doctor showed up because those toenail-eating alien things were attacking — she was there! I nearly bumped into her, when I ran off to rescue him — and you followed me!"

"Yeah, I did follow you," Dawn said. Crossing her arms. "And you didn't bump into anyone. I remember."

Buffy felt her head spinning.

Something weird was happening with memory. Something involving this woman. If Dawn couldn't remember… but Buffy could…

"She's screwing with our heads," Buffy decided. "Whoever she is. Rewriting our memories or something."

* * *

A week later, Dawn saw her, too.

But Buffy was wrong. Because the Doctor wasn't around. Hadn't been for a while.

The woman with the sunglasses had shown up, anyways.

"Why don't I remember you?" Dawn said, edging away. "Who are you? What do you want?"

The woman stepped forwards, her heels clicking against the sidewalk. "I'm a time traveler," she said. Reached out for Dawn. "Meddling with the past. That's why you can't remember."

Dawn tried to run.

But the woman caught her. Dragged her back.

"This won't hurt a bit," the woman said, slipping her sunglasses down onto her nose.

Dawn gasped, as she felt something tweaked inside her head.

She remembered nothing of the incident, afterwards.


	7. Chapter 7

_London, 2004_.

Buffy had just finished slaying the latest demon threat to the world, knife blade still in hand, her breath still coming fast and hard, when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

She looked up.

And pounced, knowing instinctively who this was, without it even needing to fully register inside her mind.

Buffy caught the woman by her arm, as she was turning to run. Grabbed her back, spinning her around and facing her. The woman's face covered in the shadows of night.

"Let me go," the woman said, very calmly. Her accent was American. "I'm not here to harm you."

"No, you're here because Rose is here," Buffy said. "And you know she meets the Doctor. You're keeping an eye on her for when he shows up."

"As are you," the sunglasses woman replied.

That wasn't the point. Totally wasn't the point.

"Who are you?" Buffy demanded. "What do you want with the Doctor?"

"I have a plan," the woman said. "I want the Doctor. I want him alive."

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "What plan?"

The woman smiled. "Say hello to your daughter for me, Buffy Summers," she said. Then reached up, and touched something on the side of her sunglasses.

A bright spark shot across Buffy's vision, and Buffy winced back, hands over her eyes. Her grip on the woman wavered, and the woman wriggled free.

"Stop!" Buffy shouted, trying to chase after the sound, her vision still impaired by the light. "Get back here!"

But the woman was gone before Buffy could catch up.


	8. Chapter 8

_Cardiff, 2009_.

Buffy sat in a café, a cup of tea in her hand. She'd finished her work for Torchwood. Now, she was just trying to banish the headaches enough that she could drive home.

"Those headaches are getting worse, aren't they?" came a woman's voice.

Buffy looked up.

As the woman sat down at the table, across from her. That same woman with the sunglasses and the dark mahogany hair.

Buffy shook her head, looking down into her tea. "You're a time traveler. You know how this all works out for me."

The woman didn't answer.

"Leave the Doctor alone," Buffy warned. "I don't know what you're up to, but it has to stop."

The woman folded her arms on the table in front of her. "You know who I am?"

"Oh, yeah," Buffy replied. "I mean — Sunnydale? All those moments with me and the Doctor? Skulking around the Powell Estates? That was _real_ subtle." She inhaled the tea, and the vapors soothed her head. "Are you what's making me sick?"

"No."

"And I'm just supposed to believe that?"

The woman reflected. Shot Buffy a sideways look. "Do you?"

Buffy shook her head. "I don't know what to believe, anymore."

"This universe is mine, you know," Sunglasses told her. "To bend and change to _my_ will, and mine alone. I _will_ control its fate." Her lips formed a thin line. "And I need the Doctor. I need him alive."

"Oh, don't say you rule the universe," Buffy half-sighed, half-groaned. "We both know it's a lie." She swirled her tea in its cup. "What are you planning to do with the Doctor, anyways, when you get him?"

The woman with the sunglasses winked.

Didn't answer.

Buffy inhaled the tea, again. Trying to wish her weariness and her illness away.

"Are you going to stop me?" said the woman.

Buffy chuckled. "What's the point? Whatever you're doing, if the Doctor doesn't like it, he'll stop you himself. I don't need to do anything."

"You didn't think so before."

"I didn't know who you were, before," Buffy replied. "Or I'd have known just how easily he _could_ stop you. Or I could." She met the woman's eyes with her own. "Seriously. Whatever you're planning. Just stop, now. Before the Doctor stops you himself."

"No."

"I said stop."

"No one will ever stop me."

Buffy and the woman with the sunglasses sat there for a long moment. Staring one another down. Neither wanting to give in or let up.

Buffy was the first to look away.

As another sharp headache made her wince, hand held up against the side of her head.

"Go home, relax, enjoy life while you still can," the woman with the sunglasses said. She leaned over the table, to whisper into Buffy's ear. "Pretty soon, you probably won't even remember we had this conversation."

Buffy opened her eyes, just as the woman stood up from her seat, to leave.

"You so much as touch my daugh… my Seo," Buffy gritted through her teeth, eyes blazing, "and you're dead. You know that, right?"

The woman with the sunglasses examined Buffy.

"Drink your tea," she said, at last.

Then, in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

* * *

Buffy thought the tea tasted funny.

But drank it, anyways.

It did make her feel better. Well enough to drive home.

And it was only during that drive, thinking matters over, that Buffy finally put the last few pieces of the puzzle together.

"Oh, you idiot, Buffy!" Buffy shouted at herself. Gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. "Why didn't you get it before?! Her plan! Why she's here, now! Why you kept seeing her across your past! It's so obvious!"

It had to stop! Buffy had to stop her!

"Because I'm the only one who can," Buffy said. "I'll track her down! Get her for this! I'll… I'll…!"

No, wait.

Better be sneaky about this.

Best thing to do — moment she got home, she had to find some way to alert the Doctor. Maybe write down what she knew and leave it carved into some building he'd find in the future! Or leave it with someone who'd meet him! Or even tell Spike to deliver a…

No. No, _she_ might intercept that. Smudge out Buffy's warning.

Whatever message Buffy left with Spike, it couldn't say what Buffy meant. It had to be cryptic and indirect, something only the Doctor would be able to grasp the true meaning of. Something that would seem to be innocent, a lover's plea, but actually be telling him _everything_.

"Like… like…" And then it struck her. "He thinks I died in the portal. Oh, that's it! Willow! My being alive! That's what I tell him — he'll work out the rest!"

She called up Spike the moment she got home.

Told Spike everything he needed to know, in order to meet the Doctor and give her message. About IPSA. About the future. About her birthday, 3847, and Lasky's Nebula. And gave him her message: that she was still alive, because Willow had resurrected her.

He'd treat it as a puzzle. A mystery. He'd leap in to solve it.

And uncover Buffy's warning.

* * *

An hour later, Buffy's headaches returned.

And Buffy forgot everything. Forgot her latest meeting with Sunglasses. Forgot her drive home. Forgot her revelation. Forgot what was really going on, and how she needed to warn the Doctor.

Even forgot the message she'd left with Spike.

All forgotten.

In an instant.

* * *

Spike didn't forget.

And neither did Sunglasses.


End file.
